Cameco Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:CCJ)

Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 28,210 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 942% compared to the average daily volume of 2,706 put options.

Cameco Price Performance

Shares of CCJ opened at $47.01 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.25. The stock has a market cap of $20.46 billion, a PE ratio of 167.89 and a beta of 1.04. Cameco has a 1-year low of $35.00 and a 1-year high of $62.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26. Cameco had a return on equity of 4.34% and a net margin of 5.39%. The company had revenue of $845.54 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Cameco will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CCJ. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Cameco in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $52.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on Cameco in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Desjardins began coverage on Cameco in a research report on Friday, April 4th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Cameco in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Cameco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.03.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Cameco by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 22,639,647 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,163,942,000 after buying an additional 1,811,876 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Cameco by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 16,846,044 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $865,729,000 after acquiring an additional 190,337 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cameco by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,784,270 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $862,997,000 after acquiring an additional 270,102 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in Cameco by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 10,088,407 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $518,443,000 after purchasing an additional 1,196,336 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Cameco during the 4th quarter worth $188,595,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.21% of the company’s stock.

Cameco Company Profile

Cameco Corporation provides uranium for the generation of electricity. It operates through Uranium, Fuel Services, Westinghouse segments. The Uranium segment is involved in the exploration for, mining, and milling, purchase, and sale of uranium concentrate. The Fuel Services segment engages in the refining, conversion, and fabrication of uranium concentrate, as well as the purchase and sale of conversion services.